19 Movie And TV Moment Made Possible By Lack Of Cash

Behold the creative muse known as ‘Being Broke AF.’
19 Movie And TV Moment Made Possible By Lack Of Cash

Money makes the world go round, like it or not. One of the biggest spenders of currency happens to be motion pictures and television shows. You have to pay for writers, directors, crew, actors, assistants for the actors, drivers for the actors, emotional support animals for the actors, locations, sets, and all sorts of other stuff. Some of the most amazing seconds on celluloid cost millions and millions of dollars to make, just to entertain you and as they flicker toward your eyeballs.

But sometimes the best moments aren't when the movie is flooded with cash. In fact, a good number of critically lauded shots and stories happened when the money ran out.  Monty Python and the Holy Grail's best running gag happened because they couldn't afford horses. If the studio had more money, Godzilla wouldn't be the kaiju we know and love today!

Learn more details about these and other stories when the lack of money forced filmmakers and showrunners to get creative:

The window shutters in Clerks had to be locked to hide the fact that it was night outside. Quick STOP GROCERIES I ASSURE YOUWERE OPEN! THE IMPROVISATI
James Cameron didn't have a filming permit for The Terminator, so the crew had to avoid cops. THE IMPROVISATION: They shot at night so they had less c

The Walking Dead

There was absolutely no narrative reason for The Walking Dead to spend a season on a farm. THE IMPROVISATION: The network axed the Season 2 budget bef
The Incredible Hulk TV show was too cheap to spend money on shooting planes and trucks. Footage from Steven Spielberg's Duel, used in S1E9 of The Incr
19 Movie And TV Moment Made Possible By Lack Of Cash

The Purge

The Purge's budget went from $8 million to $2.5 million.. THE IMPROVISATION: The producer realized the movie shouldn't be that expensive, as it's set
Instead of spending money on music for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the director made it himself. THE IMPROVISATION: With a sound recordist, he did t
The costumes of 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles almost kept it from getting made. THE IMPROVISATION: The producers couldn't get actors to wear the
Rocky and Adrian's lovely first date owes its magic to the movie running out of money. VISITOR THE IMPROVISATION: Rocky's ice rink date scene was supp

Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock shot Psycho as an episode of his TV show. THE IMPROVISATION: Hitchcock shot Psycho with the crew and assets of his TV show Alfred Hit
To get home in Back to the Future, Marty was supposed to drive into a nuclear explosion. THE IMPROVISATION: The original plan of sending Marty into a
A 1960s Batman episode had Batman, Robin, and Batgirl fight all their villains at once. THE IMPROVISATION: There was no money to actually show that, s
The plan for dressing the main cast of Clueless was to have them all in designer couture. THE IMPROVISATION: The budget for that didn't pan out, So th
Doctor Who's TARDIS was originally supposed to change shape regularly to fit in with its surroundings. OTC THE IMPROVISATION: The series creators real
Vince Gilligan planned on setting Breaking Bad in Riverside, CA. THE IMPROVISATION: They shot the pilot in Albuquerque, NM, because it was the only lo
Citizen Kane had to depict obscene wealth, but it had a shoestring budget. THE IMPROVISATION: Orson Welles got super creative, coming up with tricks l

Godzilla

The monster of Gojira, the granddaddy of Godzilla films, was supposed to be a giant octopus. THE IMPROVISATION: The movie's special effects wizard rea
Because it blew its budget, Lost locked up a bunch of major characters in cages. The IMPROVISATION: The producers saved most of the third season's bud
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